Stacked laminate molds and their use are known. In one known mold, a plurality of plates can be formed having V-shaped grooves cut through a top edge of the plate with the V-shaped groove extending from a first surface to a second surface of the plate with the bottom of the groove being parallel to the top surface of the plate. Adjacent plates may be staggered such that the grooves in one plate are bounded by the major surfaces of the plates in front and in back of such plate. Such plates have been known to be used, for example, for forming molded piled products. One example of a stacked laminate mold is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,312,583, "Apertured and Staggered Molded Piled Product" (Rochlis).
It has also been known to use stacked laminate molds for making the hook component of hook-and-loop fasteners. In such molds, it is known to form complex hook-shaped engaging members with a stacked laminate mold by etching or engraving a cavity into a major surface of a mold plate, the cavity having the desired hook configuration such as a J-hook or nail headed hook member. The cavity is open to the top surface of the stacked laminate mold. A plurality of such hooks can be formed across the length of one mold plate, with a plurality of similarly configured mold plates placed adjacent to one another. All of the plates may include cavities, or spacer plates without cavities may be placed between plates with cavities. Such stacked laminate molds can be used for batch production, that is for making discrete lengths and widths of molded products having a plurality of hooks. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,147,528, "Separable Fastener Element" (Erb); and 5,368,549, "Method for Injection-Molding an Orthopedic Device and Product of the Method" (McVicker). It is also known to use circular-shaped stacked laminate molds for continuous production of molded strips having a plurality of hooks. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,762,000, "Production of a Continuous Molded Plastic Strip" (Menzin et al.); 3,196,490, "Apparatus for Manufacture of a Continuous Strip of Molded Plastic Product" (Erb); and 4,872,243, "Multi-Hook Fastener Member" (Fischer); and Rosato and Rosato, Injection Molding Handbook, VanNostrand Reinhold Company, pp. 753-56.
It has also been known to use stacked laminate molds in the production of retroreflective or triple-reflective material. The stacked laminates are generally configured so as to form three full surfaces of a cube when the adjacent plates are stacked together for molding the retroreflective product. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,591,572, "Process and Apparatus for Making Central Triple Reflectors" (Stimson); 3,649,153, "Faceted Core" (Brudy); 4,066,236, "Cube Corner Type Retroreflector Bodies and Molds Made Therewith" (Lindner); and 4,095,773, "Subassemblies for Cube Corner Type Retroreflector Molds" (Lindner); and German Provisional Publication (OS) 42 36 799 Al (Gubela).
Methods for forming an electrically conductive coating on non-conductive mold surfaces are known, as are methods for electrodepositing a metal coating onto a mold surface. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,871,623, "Sheet-Member Containing a Plurality of Elongated Enclosed Electrodeposited Channels and Method" (Hoopman et al.); and 5,070,606, "Method for Producing a Sheet Member Containing at Least One Enclosed Channel" (Hoopman et al.)